Omg

[Sharm]

whos gonna stop me.. why should I .. i dont have to... whatever.. no...I can do what i want... OMG
i am gonna loose it so bad... we tried concerta after adderall since adderal was working but making him more emotional and he was yelling at the kids to be quiet all day pretty much.. concerta is HELL.......... he is worse.. 2 half weeks of pure HELL..... sent to the office everyday in the halls everyday.. calls home..bus issues... worse at home MORE DEFIANT if that is possible alli ever hear is the comments above....
I am sick of it all....... i go again today..I realy am sick of trying out meds..i want one to work totally......... i do not enjoy my kid he is getting worse.. the additude us WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYyy out of hand.. defiant....... totally bad... we are in a course about how to deal with the school age chilld. and after that we are taking one in dealing with adhd kid

[MGDAD]

Are you still doing the respirdal? Hang in there.

[ozchris]

Originally Posted by Sharm

whos gonna stop me.. why should I .. i dont have to... whatever.. no...I can do what i want... OMG
i am gonna loose it so bad... we tried concerta after adderall since adderal was working but making him more emotional and he was yelling at the kids to be quiet all day pretty much.. concerta is HELL.......... he is worse.. 2 half weeks of pure HELL..... sent to the office everyday in the halls everyday.. calls home..bus issues... worse at home MORE DEFIANT if that is possible alli ever hear is the comments above....
I am sick of it all....... i go again today..I realy am sick of trying out meds..i want one to work totally......... i do not enjoy my kid he is getting worse.. the additude us WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYyy out of hand.. defiant....... totally bad... we are in a course about how to deal with the school age chilld. and after that we are taking one in dealing with adhd kid

If he's having such an obviously bad reaction to concerta, why don't you just take him off it? is the doctor opposed to this?

Sounds like there could be something more here than just ADHD, maybe not though? does he see a psychologist that specializes with children? is he diagnosed with anything else or just ADHD? what kind of specialists has he seen?

Just reading some of your previous posts...It sounds like he was doing better off ritalin than on it? If he was having a bad reaction to Ritalin and Ritalin long acting I wonder why his doctor put him on concerta, it's essentially a long acting form of Ritalin.

[harper21]

Originally Posted by ozchris

If he's having such an obviously bad reaction to concerta, why don't you just take him off it? is the doctor opposed to this?


Just reading some of your previous posts...It sounds like he was doing better off ritalin than on it? If he was having a bad reaction to Ritalin and Ritalin long acting I wonder why his doctor put him on concerta, it's essentially a long acting form of Ritalin.

I'm not expert as I am still fairly new to this, but it is my understanding that what works for some doesn't work for others... and if one medication doesn't give desired results, you try another...

Sharm,
my SIL had this same reaction with her daughter when she tried her on Biphenten (sp?) Her daughter became MUCH more aggressive.
Did the Dr. phase into concerta, or did he/she just stop the ritalin suddenly and start the new meds? If it was sudden, one thing that pops into my head is that Ritalin is fast acting; you notice a difference the same day. Concerta on the other hand takes a few weeks to get into your system, so you might not be noticing the peak results yet.

[harper21]

oh, forgot to add, I would also suggest speaking with a child psychiatrist, or at least mentioning to the prescribing Dr. the change in behaviour...

One thing my son's Dr. told me was that once you treat the ADHD, that is when you'll be able to see any other symptoms that indicated a co-morbid condition. In your case (and mine too!), it sounds similar to ODD Here is a link that explains it http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/opp...sorder/DS00630

Good luck, I know exactly how you're feeling with the frustration and not being able to enjoy your child

[Pray4Him]

What is the strength of the Concerta he is on? Could it be to low of a dose and therefore not be very affective?
We got very lucky with Concerta. It works like a charm for DS. He is on 54mg a day.

[KDLMaj]

Sounds like it's time to ditch the stimulants. Adderall is actually effective at treating aggression (making it ideal for children with ADHD and ODD) which is likely why you saw some improvement- though obviously the side-effects were not good. And I'm guessing the evenings are worse than before due to stimulant rebound from the concerta.

Have they tried him on guanfacine yet? It's a non-stimulant that aids impulsivity, hyperactivity, and aggression- sounds like it's right up his alley. Strattera is also another non-stimulant option.

Honestly though, if your child is also diagnosed as bipolar he may very well not have ADHD at all. They're notorious lookalikes. And while a large percentage of children with bipolar disorder also meet the diagnostic criteria of ADHD (many of whom do benefit from stimulant use), there's also a sizable portion of bipolar children whose symptoms are worsened by standard stimulant ADHD treatments. Stimulants can exacerbate mania/hypomania in some- particularly at higher doses. If your current specialist isn't experienced at differentiating between these diagnoses, it may be time for a new doctor.

But, again, it seems like stimulants are just not a great idea at this point.

[ozchris]

Originally Posted by harper21

I'm not expert as I am still fairly new to this, but it is my understanding that what works for some doesn't work for others... and if one medication doesn't give desired results, you try another...

Sharm,
Did the Dr. phase into concerta, or did he/she just stop the ritalin suddenly and start the new meds? If it was sudden, one thing that pops into my head is that Ritalin is fast acting; you notice a difference the same day. Concerta on the other hand takes a few weeks to get into your system, so you might not be noticing the peak results yet.

I think you might have Concerta confused with straterra, I've made the same mistake before.

Concerta should work pretty much instantly, it doesn't need to build up to reach its peak effects.

Just so the OP doesn't get confused-

concerta is Methylphenidate
ritalin is Methylphenidate

it's the same thing basically, only concerta lasts longer so you don't have to take the tablets as often.

My psychiatrist trys his patients on the regular Ritalin first to see how they react to it and to find the dosage level, if they have a good reaction he can then decide if it's a better idea to be on one of the longer acting forms.

I'm not expert as I am still fairly new to this, but it is my understanding that what works for some doesn't work for others... and if one medication doesn't give desired results, you try another...

Yep, you're right. It's not an exact science and it does take some trial and error.

It's just in this case there are other meds. to try that would be much more logical than what the doctor has decided. If you have a poor reaction to ritalin most psychiatrists would not try concerta, which is why I'm thinking this is a family doctor. I might be wrong though.

I'm not an expert either so it's possible I'm missing something and the doc. has a good reason for trying concerta. I've just noticed that most regular GP's and pediatrician are barely competent with treating ADD and psychological problems, sometimes they don't even know the name of the chemical they're prescribing and only know it by it's brand name.

[ozchris]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I just wanted to separate my posts so hopefully it's not against the rules

I was reading one of your posts from a while ago Sharm.

---

before meds.. ( having issues in school obvioulsy) but in the morning had really no problems.. he would get up easily.. get dressed eat.. take vitimins.. etc.. and have free time before bus came. no arguing ..diagreeing anything,, i had more issues with my daughter..

It seems like most of your problems with behavior with him are acually caused by the meds themselves. Some people with ADD just don't respond to medication unfortunatly

You said he was calm in the mornings without meds and now with meds he is bouncing off the walls, annoying everyone, being defiant and oppositional.

I don't know anything about being a parent but it seems like he's way better without the meds. Is he much improved at school when he's on concerta or adderall? IF not then I'm not sure why his doctor has him still on them. I can imagine it must be pretty tough for you with looking after your other kids when one is taking up so much of your time.

I've got a feeling the only way to really sort this out is to have some in depth sessions with a childrens psychologist that's experienced with this sort of thing. Where he speaks to you both and with your boy by himself as well. It might be that there's something else that was causing the problems at school before you started the meds.

ADD can look like a whole heap of other problems, it can be really tricky to tell them apart without having a good psychologist spend a decent amount of time on it.

[Sharm]

update !! he has been on adderall now for a few months and doing way better.. his report card has improved and his additude .. now to get my daughter who is add to take concerta .. that is what he gave her.. she refuses says she cant swallow it.. so her report card has downspiraled.. they are both getting tutored now...

[Pray4Him]

When DS 1st started meds he would gag everytime and wouldn't swallow. I let him have a pudding cup in the morning and he put the pill in there.. it went down much nicer

[Justtess]

Good to hear you are getting good results. Hope things will work out just as nicely for your daughter too.

[MGDAD]

Glad to hear it is going better Sharm.

[lostmykeys]

Originally Posted by KDLMaj

Sounds like it's time to ditch the stimulants. Adderall is actually effective at treating aggression (making it ideal for children with ADHD and ODD) which is likely why you saw some improvement- though obviously the side-effects were not good. And I'm guessing the evenings are worse than before due to stimulant rebound from the concerta.

I would have to disagree with some children. I have noticed some children become extremely aggressive on adderall. Much more than other stimulants.

It sounds like a mood stabilizer should be tried before stimulant. I would try that before adding the stimulant.